The invention relates to a hob having at least one heating zone and a temperature sensor according to the preamble of claim 1 and to a method for operating a hob according to the preamble of claim 8.
A hob having a heating zone and a temperature sensor located in the center of the heating zone is known from DE 10 2006 057 885 A1. A method is described by which an instant at which the liquid in the cookware element reaches a boiling point is predicted as accurately as possible. The cookware contents are prevented from boiling by reducing the supply of heating energy before boiling point is reached. Predicting is based on evaluating characteristic temperature curves recorded in the past.
Different liquids' boiling points can, though, in practice differ greatly depending on, for instance, their composition and/or the prevailing atmospheric pressure. The same applies to the shape of temperature curves, which is unpredictable for the hob's control units also through the addition of ingredients during the heating-up process. However, precisely predicting the boiling point is important for realizing an effective simmer operation of the hob during which the contents of the cookware element are kept at a temperature just below boiling point. A large amount of energy can be saved by simmering compared with vigorous boiling because the evaporation energy released as a result of boiling can be very high. If, though, the temperature of what is being cooked is too low and the difference between said temperature and boiling point is too great, the cooking process will be protracted and/or lead to undesired results.